ソラノイロ ー NIPPON

Last weekend a friend invited me to a new restaurant that opened in June of 2015 on Ramen Street in the Yaesu basement near Tokyo Station. Ramen Street has a selection of famous ramen shops from around Japan, so I was excited to check out a restaurant that had a few vegan options. Soranoiro has 3 locations around Tokyo station, and the location inside Ramen Street is the newest shop. The first location, Saranoiro – Japanese soup noodle free style, opened in 2011 and because very popular.

Although the restaurant isn’t totally vegan, they advertise their vegan offerings in many places throughout the restaurant. They had two vegan versions of their Veggie Ramen and even a vegan soft serve ice cream, which I didn’t get to try this time when I ate here. I’m excited to try it next time I’m at the restaurant.

You might have to wait in line at this location, if you go during busy times. You use the ticket vending machine to purchase your ramen and give the ticket to the staff. The inside of the restaurant doesn’t feel like a typical ramen restaurant and seems more like you’re eating inside a restaurant in a trendy area of NYC or LA. I hear the other locations have more of a ramen restaurant feel.

The ramen doesn’t look like a typical ramen either! The bright colors of the vegetables make the ramen look really tasty. The food was good, and I would definitely come back to have it again. You can swap the normal noodles for whole wheat, but I don’t think I’d do this again. The wheat noodles were really just whole wheat pasta, not ramen. It’s a good option for some people though.

I still like T’s Tan Tan in Tokyo Station better, but this is definitely a great option for people who want to try something different. They also have vegan soft serve ice cream, so just that alone is a great reason to come here!

Recently, I wrote an article for the Japan Travel website Taiken Japan about the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum. I wanted to write an additional article explaining which ramen shops offer vegan options.

You might not know about the museum, so below is a short paragraph from the article that tells you a bit about the museum:

Wouldn’t it be amazing to try ramen from well-known ramen shops from around the world without stepping foot on a plane? At the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum you can do just that. The museum was started in 1994 as the world’s first food themed amusement park. Instant ramen was first developed in 1958, and the museum is themed around this time period. Once you enter the museum, you feel like you’re walking back in time. The museum is themed with advertisements from the early 60’s, and ramen shops looks as if they were built in this time period. The museum also has information personnel dressed as police from this time period.

Many of the ramen shops offer a vegetarian option, but only three offer a vegan option. Keep checking back here, as I will try to update this page if more start to offer a vegan ramen. When you find any of the restaurants below, look for the ramen on the vending machine that has the green tomato icon (like the one below). This will point you to the vegan option.

Ryu Shanghai

Ryu Shanghai is my favorite ramen of the two I’ve tried so far. The ramen in VERY spicy, so if you’re not into spicy it’s probably a good idea to try the vegan ramen at one of the other shops. The ramen here is miso based with thick noodles. It’s so flavorful and tastes amazing. Definitely try it!

Komurasaki

The other vegan option comes from Komurasaki. The ramen normally has a pork based broth, but their vegan ramen has a vegetable based broth. This ramen is much lighter than the miso ramen at Ryu Shanghai. It was really good too, and I liked they use vegan meat as a topping on the ramen.

Narumi-Ippudo (Ramen is pictured bottom left) is a new pop-up shop at the museum that was added in Oct, 2014. I haven’t been to the museum recently to try it, so I have to make the trip out there soon. Side note: If you don’t follow VeganJapan on Instagram, I highly recommend it! They post great photos of vegan food from all over the Tokyo area. I have found so many great vegan foods thanks to their posts.

If you can read Japanese, you can refer to this chart that shows which restaurants serve a vegan ramen:

If you have’t been to the museum yet, I highly recommend it. The trip is a little far from central Tokyo or even Yokohama, but well worth it!

Be sure to comment and check out my other restaurant reviews from Japan and around the world here: Restaurant Reviews

To get the best ramen in the world, you don’t have to travel far. Well… not if you live in Tokyo, Japan. Otherwise, you have to check out T’s TanTan when your in Japan. For this post, I’ll tell you about T’s TanTan in Tokyo station. Their Tokyo Station location is primarily focused on their ramen, although they have a curry and other dishes as well.

T’s TanTan can be found by entering Tokyo Station. You will need to have a ticket or buy one at the JR ticket booth. Once you enter, look for signs for the Keiyo line. Once you see Keiyo street, walk down and T’s will be on your right. Be sure to check out my video at the end of the post. I show you how to find the restaurant and show you their current menu.

T’s TanTan is all vegan and serves great ramen and curries. They also have a variety of sides, like sweet and sour fried chicken. This is a great place to find healthy ramen that doesn’t lack in flavor!

The ramen is priced from 750¥ and 900¥ (about $7.50-$9.00). If you’re really hungry, I suggest the set menu that comes with ramen and a side (price of ramen plus 300¥). Beyond ramen, the Japanese curry they serve is fantastic and I enjoy the fried soy meat as well. Between 7am and 11am they offer specially priced ramen and a Japanese breakfast soup.

On my latest visit, I ordered the Shiro TanTan set and I chose the summer special curry, Matsamon curry. The Shiro TanTan was fantastic. It has some soy meat and wasn’t too spicy. The curry was different than the Japanese curry they also serve. It’s Thai inspired and is a coconut curry. My favorite dish is the regular TanTan Ramen. It’s spicy with soy meat and tastes amazing!

T’s TanTan also has a variety of soup bases and vegan meats. They’re a little more expensive than I would pay in America, but these types of items are more difficult to find in Japan.

Check out my trip to T’s TanTan here:

Interested in helping me translate my posts and videos? Contact me, since I’d love to get this post and my videos translated into as many languages as possible!

Japan has an amazing variety of soy milks. In America, it’s easy to find chocolate, vanilla, and plain soy milk. Here in Japan, there are fruit flavors coffee and tea flavors along with many others. For this blog post, I will review some of the fruit flavors you can find at grocery stores in Japan.

You can find these small soy milk boxes at convenience stores like 7/11, Family Mart, and Lawson. You can also find them at grocery stores as well. They sell for about 80¥-100¥/box (about 0.80-$1.00). There is around a cup of soy milk in each. You can find larger containers at grocery stores but you probably won’t be able to find these flavors. They tend to only sell certain flavors in larger containers (coffee, earl grey tea, fruit, and more can be found in larger containers). The larger containers sell for about 150¥ to 225¥ and has the same quantity of soy milk you can find in American containers.

My favorite of these four was definitely the melon. It tasted like cantaloupe and wasn’t extremely sweet like you might think a fruit flavored soy milk would be. My second favorite was the yuzu. It wasn’t a flavor I was very familiar with but it wasn’t very sweet and tasked great. The mango was a little sweet for me but tasted similar to a mango lassi. The strawberry was probably my least favorite. I thought I would like strawberry a lot but the flavor tasted imitation and wasn’t very sweet. I think the mango and the strawberry tasked more like juice mixed with soy milk, whereas the melon and yuzu retained their soy milk texture and taste.

I’ve also had the fruit soy milk, which was very sweet for me. I mixed it with unsweetened soy milk and it made the taste much more bearable.

There’s no reason to fear getting cheap, vegan sushi in a fun atmosphere in Tokyo! There are two conveyor belt sushi restaurants that I’ve tried in Shibuya, Tokyo. Genki Sushi and their sister restaurant Uobei Sushi offer an affordable option while you’re in Tokyo. The sushi costs between 108¥ and 129¥ per roll. To make your experience more simple, I created a video that you can watch at the bottom of this post. Below are some tips for dining at one of these restaurants.

Getting Seated: As you enter the restaurant, the staff will give you a small clip board that has a number on it. Go to the seat labeled with that number.

Drinks: There are water stations nearby. Grab a cup and fill it with water. Once you get back to your seat, there will be some cups above you along with small dishes. The cups are for green tea and dishes for wasabi and soy sauce. You can also order a variety of soft drinks, beer, and mixed drinks using the touch screen. At your table you have access to all the green tea you can drink!

Using the Touch Screen: Change the touch screen language to English (or your preferred language). Look through the sushi rolls for your preferred rolls. My favorites are the inari, kanpyo, and natto. They also have french fries on the sides menu and cucumber rolls. Press order! You can order up to 3 items at once, since this is the maximum number of items the tray will fit. You can order more items immediately after submitting your order.

Receiving your Order: Once your order arrives, take your plates and press the lighted button to return the tray. Take a pair of chopsticks and grab as much wasabi and ginger as you’d like!

Paying: There are take-out boxes on the shelf above you, if you’re interested in ordering some cheap food to eat at the hotel! On the touch screen, click account to bring up your bill then click check out. Bring your clipboard to the counter to pay. Easy!

It’s important to note that you should be careful as soy sauce sometimes contains bonito flakes (tuna flakes). When is doubt, bring your own or enjoy without soy sauce!

As for the quality of the food, I think it’s as good as it gets for this price. You can find similar food at convenience stores, but the price will be higher. Pictured above is natto, a fermented soy bean. It’s popular in Japan, but many people dislike the smell and the stickiness of natto. I would only choose this if you’re adventurous. Other vegan options include: inari (sweet tofu skins stuffed with rice), kanpyo roll (sweet squash), cucumber roll, and french fries.

If you’re traveling in Japan, I would definitely check out Genki Sushi. They have locations all over Japan!

Hello everyone! Elton here! This is my first post on TOFUsenshi.com, but I’m excited because I’m writing about one of my favorite things: vegan donuts! Actually, I love all vegan desserts like cake and cheesecake, but donuts hold a special place in my heart.

I am so happy that I am able to find vegan donuts here in Tokyo. I first heard about Doughnut Plant through Twitter and Instagram about two months before coming to Tokyo. When I moved toTokyo, I stayed in a hotel in Shinjuku, so on the 1st day, I made it a mission to find Doughnut Plant, which was not far from my hotel at all.

Storefront of Doughnut Plant, Shinjuku in LUMINE EST

First a little about the company. Doughnut Plant is originally from New York City. I’ve been to New York City dozens of times,being originally from Philadelphia, but I admit that I’ve never heard of them before. Unlike other conventional donut shops, Doughnut Plant does not use egg in any of their baked goods. They do use cow’s milk, however, making them not suitable for vegans. Here in Tokyo, not only do they not use eggs either, but select donuts are made with soymilk instead of cow’s milk. That makes them vegan friendly! Though not everything they made is vegan-friendly, so be sure to check their website in advance, or be careful in reading the labels. Luckily, the donuts made with soymilk are clearly marked in English and Japanese. I do suggest going to the shop earlier in the day, as they might run out of the soymilk donuts!

Soymilk-made donuts are clearly marked in English and Japanese

I’ve gone to Donut Plant three times now, and both times there has been two types of soymilk-made donuts to choose from! The great thing about Donut Plant in Tokyo is that their menu changes with the season. Let me now talk about the delicious flavors I’ve been able to try:

SALTY CARAMEL
This was my 1st taste of Doughnut Plant! It was really good! It wasn’t overly sweet, or overly salty. I had a great balance that worked really well. I didn’t have it with coffee, but it was have been a perfect companion to a nice hot cup of coffee. Available from June 5 to July 16, 2014 only. I was glad to be able to get one, because when I first went, the second soymilk-made donut choice wasn’t available.

Salty Caramel Donut, with walnuts

COCONUT CITRUS
This was also supposed to available at the same time Salty Caramel came out, but they didn’t have it when I 1st went. So, I definitely had to go back! I personally am not super crazy about shredded coconut, but this was just the right amount! The citrus flavor was light, and it complimented the sugary coconut sheds very well!

Coconut Citrus donut, with shredded candied coconut

WILD BLUEBERRY
My third time back their website said they had Wild Blueberry and Pistachio soy-milk made donuts available from July 17 to August 31, 2014, but when I came only the Blueberry one was left. I can’t complain though, because this, too was very good. It wasn’t too sweet, but I wish it did have more pieces of blueberries on it. The one that I got had two or three small pieces on it, so it would have been even tastier with more.

Wild Blueberry Donut, with blueberries and a berry glaze

All in all, the prices are pretty reasonable. Cheaper than your average doughnut shop, but at the same price point as specialty donut shops. At around 300 to 320 Japanese Yen, they end up about $3.00 USD. They take credit card, too, so that’s good. Also, I just discovered that if you go to their website, you can sign up to receive monthly coupons though email! It’s about 30 yen off, so that knocks the price down a little.

Reasonably priced, around 300 to 320 yen

Getting there was challenging on the 1st time. For those new to Tokyo or the Shinjuku area, it can be a bit scary to navigate. The mistake I made was going to the 1st Lumine mall I saw, not knowing that there is in fact three different buildings that the mall Lumine occupies. When you are looking for this particular donut shop, make sure you are going into LUMINE EST and not Lumine 1 or Lumine 2. I will also say that the shop is more of a large stall on the ground floor, and not a shop that you can walk into and sit. It’s by the JR exits, but around Shinjuku Station, pretty much everything is! The address is below in both Japanese and English:

I will definitely be back to try the Pistachio flavor before the end of August, and I’ll be back more to check out their other offerings! Have any of you been able to try other yummy limited edition soymilk flavors? Let me know in the comments! Happy eating!

Gopinatha

I was really excited to find a local place that offered vegan cuisine near where I live. I came across Gopinatha a short walk from Nakano station in Tokyo. I couldn’t find any reviews on Happy Cow or Yelp, so I thought I’d give it a try regardless… and I’m so happy I did!

If you haven’t been to Nakano yet, I highly recommend it. Among the universities of Nakano and right outside of Nakano Station is Nakano Broadway, which is a anime and manga lovers paradise. There are also many shops and one popular store is Uniqlo (which is spreading across America now).

The restaurant is small. There’s about 10 seats in the entire place. This was exactly what I was looking for! My first real Japanese restaurant experience! The owner does a good job at soliciting business from English speakers though. The menu has English, they have an English Website, and they have a map on their website in English. See below.

The directions were very easy to follow and very helpful! The outside of the building was discreet, so try to be aware while walking down the street by looking for the name of the restaurant. I captured a picture of the outside of the restaurant below.

Aside from the restaurant being small, it’s was quiet too. When I got to the restaurant, there was only one other person there. After we got there around 2pm, the restaurant filled up quickly. There are indian spices and beans among other items for sale by the sliding door. The restaurant also had bookshelves filled with interested books for those traveling alone.

The menu is very vegan friendly. I assume they only use egg or dairy in some of the items but most menu items state they can be made vegan as well. I went for the set, which was vegan. Here are some photos of the menu:

The vegan set was only 900¥ or about $9 US Dollars. Everything is made fresh to order, which made the meal even more delightful. The soup was light, but very flavorful. The dressing on the salad was tahini and some other green vegetable blended. The potatoes were my favorite, with a mustard on top. The avocado was spicy, and the tomatoes balanced out the spice. These were really good as well. Check out my photos:

I thought the meal was satisfying and affordable. After seeing a vegan tiramisu on the board for dessert, I had to try it! It was very good and recommended! They also had a carrot cake, but I’ll have to try that next time!

Like most places in Japan, this restaurant is CASH ONLY. Although some say the restaurant is an Indian restaurant, I wouldn’t really call it that. It’s more Indian inspired Japanese food. Indian food is much heavier than this. I can’t wait to go back here!

After the restaurant, we headed to the 68th annual Mitama Matsuri Festival in Tokyo! That was a great experience for my first festival in Japan. You can check out a video of it here:

Make sure you subscribe for more updates on vegan food and my travels in Japan! Until next time!